WASPI women issued 'biggest update yet' over DWP compensation

WASPI women have been issued their biggest hint about Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) payouts worth £2950 yet. GB News has reported Sir Keir Starmer has dropped the "biggest" hint about potential WASPI payouts.

Starmer has told press that DWP secretary Liz Kendall will make a statement “on this in the not too distant future”. WASPI have advocated for support for women who were born in the 1950s and say they did not get adequate warnings about changes to the state pension.

Asked by reporters on the trip to the G20 summit in Brazil why compensation was taking so long, the Prime Minister said: “The DWP secretary will be making a statement on this in the not too distant future." The Prime Minister added: "Obviously it’s a very serious report, and the response will be set out by the DWP secretary."

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A DWP spokesperson previously told Birmingham Live: “This was a serious report, requiring serious consideration. We will continue to listen respectfully to the women involved, and ensure we take on board any lessons learnt."

A report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that affected women should have had at least 28 months’ more individual notice of the changes by the Department for Work and Pensions. It also said that for women who were not aware of the changes, the opportunity that additional notice would have given them to adjust their retirement plans was lost due to delay.

The PHSO further suggested that compensation at level four, ranging between £1,000 and £2,950, could be appropriate for each of those affected. Pensions minister Emma Reynolds told the Commons that the Government hoped “to be able to update the House in the coming weeks”.

She told MPs: “The ombudsman took six years to look at what are a range of complex cases, and we are looking at the complexity of those cases. I was the first minister in six years to meet with representatives of the Waspi campaign.

“We hope to be able to update the House in the coming weeks.”